Silhouette
by Azurite
Summary: For Mother's Day 2005 A young man reflects on the death of his mother all those years ago. All he has left of her is a silhouette in a gold locket... [Oneshot]


**Silhouette**  
A Yu-Gi-Oh Oneshot  
by Azurite - azurite AT fanfiction DOT net  
azurite DOT incandesce DOT org

**Completed:** May 9th, 2005 - A Mother's Day Fic

**Quick Edit Note:** No, I didn't "cut" off the story or intentionally leave out any periods. Everyone should know by now that FFnet's QuickEdit system is EVIL (tool of the Negaverse/Shadow Realm/Voldemort) and likes to cut out those three-period delights known as "ellipses." Or ellipsis, if you're talking singular. Anyway, I've replaced them with the HTML character, so they SHOULD show up. I hope.

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or the character(s) implied within. This is a not-for-profit fanwork for entertainment purposes only.

The character in this story is NOT named, will NOT be named (I'm sure most of you can guess, though), and this story will NOT be continued. It was written as a response for 15minuteficlets, the LiveJournal community.

* * *

He rubbed the locket absently between his fingers, adding his own winding prints to the already-engraved work. A simple golden locket with a rose engraved on its surface, tiny lines –meant to resemble vines, he supposed-- etched into the heart-shaped trinket.

After a second of contemplating why a single rose would have so many vines, he pressed his thumbnail against the clasp and opened the locket.

A pair of simple silhouettes faced each other—the shadows of a man and a woman. There were no facial features, just the general outline of people that once were. A man with a trim haircut and angular jaw, and a woman with flowing hair and a gently-sloping neck.

Father… and Mother.

He didn't make it a point to reminisce like this –not too often, anyway—but it couldn't exactly be helped on a day like today.

It was dreary and wet outside, with a thick blanket of fog covering everything. He had no reason to go outside, even if he wanted to. There was no business to attend to, nothing to do and nowhere to go…

Only his thoughts kept him company.

His thoughts and his memories…

It was Mother's Day in this country, which meant children were to call their mothers, shower them with flowers, presents, and compliments…

What little he could remember of his mother involved a selfless woman who took flattery with a graceful smile and a soft blush. He could remember a few times when his father gave her a present –like this gold locket—and she would embrace him lightly with a smile on her face.

Words were never needed… she was just that type of woman, who seemed to be thoroughly aware of everything, even without someone telling her. She knew her son loved her, she knew her husband adored her…

And she knew that with the birth of her second son, she wouldn't see another Mother's Day.

This realization hit him hard and fast.

He continued to stare at the tiny silhouette within the locket, willing his memory to recall her face, her smell, her texture, her voice. It was becoming harder and harder with each passing day.

He remembered her smile… that all-knowing smile. That smile that had traces of every emotion within it, happy and sad.

'She knew. All along, she knew…'

But she'd never told anyone. She'd never admitted to being afraid of what lay ahead for her. She never expressed any selfish thoughts at all…

He clenched the locket in his fist, forcing it closed. The light sheen of sweat on his palm blurred his fingerprints away.

All along…

Even if she wasn't… "here" like other mothers were, she was still "around." He somehow knew. He felt it. Did she know then, how much of an influence she was on him? How every single day, he desperately tried to recall everything about her, and all that she'd taught him in the six years they'd been together?

Did she know how desperate he was to find a similar sort of solace and warmth in a woman's arms—that love in someone's eyes? But it could never be her, never again…

She was no longer part of the mortal plane, and yet…

He rose from his seat and slipped the locket away. Now he had something to do, and somewhere to go. He would visit her, and tell her all the things a mother deserved to hear on this day. He would tell her…


End file.
